Anne Arundel County Receives Grants for Reducing Harmful Pollutants Delivered to the Chesapeake Bay

Operating and Maintenance Grants Total $410,000 for Wastewater Treatment Plants Achieving Pollutant Reducing Goals of the Bay Restoration Act 

Annapolis, Maryland (July 20, 2015) – The Maryland Board of Public Works has approved $410,000 in grant funding to Anne Arundel County for successfully achieving the pollutant reducing goals of the Bay Restoration Fund Act at the Patuxent, Broadneck, and Maryland City Water Reclamation Facilities (WRF).  The operating and maintenance grants for Fiscal Year 2016 are awarded to jurisdictions that have completed capital projects to implement enhanced nutrient removal technology and have reduce the amount of Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorous discharged to waterways following the wastewater treatment process. 
 

The Maryland Department of Environment allocates up to 10% of the annual Bay Restoration Fund revenue to wastewater treatment plants meeting the Enhanced Nutrient Removal (ENR) threshold for pollutant load removal.  ENR technology provides WRFs the capability to reduce the total nitrogen discharge concentration to our waterways by 80% and the total phosphorous levels by 80%.  Upgrade capital projects continue at the County’s other four WRFs.  DPW anticipates all ENR upgrades to be completed by January 2017.
 

"This grant will help Anne Arundel County continue to lead the state in our efforts to clean up the Bay and our waterways," said Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh.
 

“The operating grant funding starts to show a return on the County’s capital investment to upgrade our wastewater treatment infrastructure and reduce the amount of harmful pollutants reaching our waterways,” said Department of Public Works Director Christopher Phipps.  “These grants will subsidize some of the increased operating costs required to run this advanced technology to achieve unprecedented pollutant removal rates.  This could not have been achieved without the coordinated and dedicated efforts of our plant operators and project engineers.”
 

The Maryland Bay Restoration Fund was signed into law on May 26, 2004 to create a dedicated fund, financed by wastewater treatment plant users, to upgrade treatment plants in the state with ENR technology.